Barcelona come into the last 16 second leg round against AC Milan trailing 2-0 from the first leg. As a result, they are the underdogs going into the encounter even though the match will be at the Camp Nou. The midfielder Cesc Fabregas is of the opinion that the Spanish club will be able to go through to the quarter-finals. Barcelona come into the encounter with several questions being asked about their form and defence. They kept their first clean sheet for more than 10 matches only during the weekend. The 2-0 victory over Deportivo la Coruna, though, was not the most convincing either.
This was only the second victory that the team has achieved in the last five matches. They have been looking devoid of ideas, while their famous passing style of football has also let them down on numerous occasions in the last few weeks.
Incidentally, this poor run of form has coincided with the lack of the manager Tito Vilanova on the bench. Questions have been asked about the ability of the assistant manager Jordi Roura. If Barcelona are eliminated from the competition, then it could possibly leave only Real Madrid as the Spanish representatives in the competition, though the betting is that they will manage to see it through, and possibly face one of the Premier League teams in the next round.
Fabregas, who has six goals for the club this season, has expressed his confidence about the ability of Barcelona to turn it around in the second leg. “As a team, we are feeling okay. The Milan loss [affected us] with the defeats to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey and La Liga. However, this group of players is more than capable of producing the goods in the big matches, we have shown we can do so in the past and nobody doubts that we can do it again,” said Fabregas. Milan come into the encounter on the back of the 15 match unbeaten run.